Apparatus for semifluid and fluid evacuation



Sept. 11, 1934. ALLA AN 1,973,560

APPARATUS FOR SEMIFLUID AND FLUID EVACUATION Fil ed March 26. 1932 Patented Sept. 11, 1934 PATENT OFFICE APPA ATUS FOR SEMIFLUID AND FLUID i EVACUATION Timothy F. Gallahan, Quincy, Mass.

;tioned, having little'or, no liquid associated with themmaybe madezsemi-flu id .byinjection of a fluid thereinto thereby to prepare them for, evacuation by the device herein described.

V In my co-pending applicationSerial No. 471,853, there is disclosed in detaila method and apparatus for evacuating semiefluid and fluid substances, said apparatus including a portable bucket which is-fiuid-tight except for :an inlet and discharge opening inits bottom. Theibucket has an interior seal." for the said opening, andsuitable control means foropening and closing the interior of the bucket'toiatniosphere.1 Innsethe bucket is lowered into. the container or excavation wherein is the material to be evacuated; the bucket meanwhile .being .maintained closed to atmosphere. -When. the bucket is loweredi-sufliciently, with'resultant compression of air therein, opening of its interior toatmosphere causes'outrush of air and inrush' of liquidlor semi-liquid. And the force and eflect of the inrushing liquid carriessubstantial'amounts ofv fragmentary or comminuted solid matter, which may be associatedwith the liquid, into the bucket. Then, according to the invention of the said copending application, the bucket is closed to atmosphere whilebeing raised, and atmospheric pressure at said bottom opening, alone or in combination with an interior valve or seal, maintainsthe contentsagainst discharge until such time as the bucket again is opened to atmos- Ph ev 1 V i .Whereas the bucket of my said copending application disclosesian internal valve or' seal which is entirely satisfactory for handling all fluid substances, and all strictly semifluid substances, the heavier "sludges, coarse sand and other'rnaterials which,.even though immersed in liquid, are likely to pack and be difiicult toinove, may cause troublein discharging them from; a bucket'embodyin'gthe internal types of valveorseal.

' "lVIy present" invention relatesft'o a bucket similar to that briefly described-in the foregoing, but embodying improvements whereby it can handle eflicienfly the heavier fragmentary or comminuted 1932, Serial No. stress (01. 214-1) solid matters associated with, or which may be i a brought into association with a fluid vehicle.

It is an object of the invention to provide an evacuating bucket having no internal obstruction in the path of material entering in or discharging from the bucket. V 7

Another object is to provide means exteriorly of the-bucket for closing its bottom inlet and discharge opening against entrance of air into the interior. A feature of thislatter is the attaining of a liquid seal for said opening;

Still another object is to provide so that said closing means may be out of the way of inrushing' material when the bucket is being charged, and, when released, moves, by gravity, to its operative position as the loaded bucket is raised.

These objects and results may beattained with a container or bucket which is fluid-tight except for an opening in a bottom region for inflow and outflow of material. No obstruction interiorly of the bucket-retards or prevents free movement of materials in and out, but exteriorly I provide means which is permitted to move across said opening when the bucket is loaded and isbeing raised. Preferably this means is in the form of a scoop, mounted for arcuate movement between an idle position, where'it is uninterfering with charging of the bucket, and anop erative position where it underlies the said inlet and discharge opening. Animportant feature, however, is the attaining automatically of a liquid seal'ior said opening when the scoop closure moves to operable position. Assuming, of course, that liquid or semi-liquid surrounds the lower portion of the bucket when and after being loaded, the said scoop-closure is permitted to move" to its operative position as soon as the bucket is started upward with its load. The interiornow will be closed to atmosphere, and contents will not discharge so long as this condition exists. The initial upward travel of the bucket maintains thev opening under water or other liquid or semiliquid substance. And the dish-like closuremoves across said opening while it is soimmersed. This arcuate movement of the scoop causes it topick up-liquid or semi-liquid in quantity to provide aliquid seal for said opening, which seal persists after the bucket is completely elevated, Thus the contents are held in the container againstdischarge until transported to. aproperlocation when, by opening the interior to'atmosphere.dis charge will automatically occur by gravity outflow. Or, if the solid matter therein has become too solidly packed for automatic discharge, a slight Figure 3 is a modification with the control means for the scoop exteriorly of the bucket; and.

Figure 4 is a bottom plan of. Figure 3. p Referring to the drawing, the bucket 10 may be of any suitable material, preferably metaLand may be of any desiredshape. .Asiillustrated "it. has a cylindrical main body portionwhoseupper.

end is closed as at 12, and has aneck'14 at its lower portion, with opening 16 for inflow to and outflow from the bucket.

The bucket is constructed fluid-tight except for the bottomopening 16, but has a conduit 18, leading out from an upper location, with means,

, such as valve 20, for opening and closing the interior of the bucket to atmosphere at will. Ordinarily the bucket will be of sizerequiring a hoist or the like for handling it but, ofcourse a'suitable size might be lowered and elevated by hand orby other devices.

The inventionrelatesmore particularly to an improved closure and seal forthe'opening 16. For these purposes I employ a closure 22 exteriorly of the bucket. This preferably is in the form of a scoop, and may be mounted to swing about an axis, such as at 24, between anoperative position shown in full lines in Figure 1 and an out-of-the-way position indicated by dot and dash lines in the same figure.

According tothe inventionthe scoop 221s gravity acting, i. e. it moves by gravity to operative position whenever released, if its arcuate path .of travel is unobstructed. It is afeature also that a considerable amount of the weight of the scoop is concentrated at its rear or laggingportion, whereby the forward position is urged tight against the rim of opening 16 when the scoop is inoperative position.

Of itself the scoop-closure 22 would be of no avail for preserving the fluid-tight character of the bucket after the latter had been elevated into atmosphere. But, by the invention, the mechanical closing accomplishes a simultaneous liquid sealing of the opening 16. The scoop in its closing movement picks up liquid or semi liquid which ordinarily will be present in quantity around the lower portion of the bucket; and this picked up liquid is retained in the scoop in quantity suflicient to provide an effective seal for opening '16; Consequently, with conduit 18 closed, and opening 16 liquid sea1ed,the bucket may be elevated and transported-as desired without loss of any contents. And discharge of the contents may be accomplished by the mere opening of the bucket interior to atmosphere through conduit 18, when the contents ordinarily will flow out by gravity.

In this connection it should be mentioned that the scoop-closure 221s not requiredto bearv any of the weight of contents of the bucket, and, consequently, the closure is easily movable to open :the discharge passage; .Vacuum in the bucket tends to hold contents in, andtheclosure..22 serves merely-as a container of the water; or other liquid, whichconstitutes the seal for preserving :the vacuum in the bucket. But immediatelyupon breaking the seal, by drawing away of closure 22 contents are permitted to discharge; and, by opening valve 20, the discharge, by gravity outflow, ordinarily will be rapid and complete.

Under certain conditions, however, as when solid material becomes fairly solidly packed in the bucket, it may be necessary to agitate it a little tostart outflow. To this end-a conduit 26 with sun portion leading well down into the bucket may lead from any suitable source of compressed air, for injecting an agitating charge into the packed material when necessary.

InFigure 1 the scoop 22 is controlled by a cable 28--'or the like-which extends up through the bucket to a suitable control point. Figure :3 shows a similar means of control wholly exterior to the bucket. Both provide for pulling and holding the scoop in its out-of-the-way position while the bucket is descending, and during its loading, the mere release of the cable permitting the automaticzgravit'y swingof the scoop to..closing andv liquid-sealing position .when: the loadedbucket starts its upward journey.

I claim as my invention: :1. In apparatus. for evacuating fluidandsemie fluid material, aiiuid-tight receptacle having an inlet and dischargeopening, means foropening the interior of the. receptacle =to'atmosphere, and a closure exteriorly .of the container movable between a positionwhere it completely clears said opening and a positionwhere it stands across said opening, said closurebeing. adapted tohold a body of liquid in liquidesealing relation. tosaid opening; r

2. In apparatus for evacuating fluid and semi.- I10 fluid material, a. fluid-tightreceptacle having means for openingits interiorto atmosphere, and having a neck portionat a lower location, with mouth for entrance to and discharge from. the receptacle; a closure for said mouth, movableout of the path of material entering in and discharging out of the container, said closure having walls adapted'to surround said mouth andxbeing1capable ofholding a body of liquid-in liquid-sealing relation to said mouth; and means for controlling the movements of said closure.

'3. In'apparatus for evacuating fluidand semifluid material, a fluid-tight receptacle having means for opening its interiorto atmosphere, and having a bottom opening for inflow and outflow; a scoop closure pivotally mounted exteriorly of the receptacle and movable to a position underlying said-opening and to another position where it completely clears said mouth and means for controlling the closure.

4. In apparatus for evacuating fluid and semifluid material, a fluid-tight receptacle having means for openingits interior to atmosphere, and having a bottom opening for inflow and outflow; and a container for liquid mounted exteriorly on the receptacle and adapted to stand with the rim of said opening immersed v in and the opening sealedby the liquid in the container; said container moving by gravity to the saidsealing position; and means for moving it toinoperative position to clear the path fordischargfromthe receptacle; l]

5. In apparatusfor'evacuating fluid and'semifluid: material, comprising a submersible fluidti'ght receptacle having. a bottom opening for entrance and discharge and means. forfopening the interior of the-receptacle to atmosphere, ;a closure for b said, bottom opening mounted. 'ex-.- teriorlyof the receptacle andmovable across s'aid 150 tightness resulting in the closure being free from the weight of contents of the receptacle, whereby the closure is movable with ease away from said opening to break the seal for gravity discharge.

TIMOTHY F. CALLAHAN. 

